U.S. stocks jumped on Friday, with the major indexes ending a weeks-long losing streak after a string of more upbeat corporate results at least temporarily offset fears of a steep economic slide.
The S&P 500 rallied into the close, gaining 2.5% to end at 4,158.24. The blue-chip index ended a seven-week losing streak and posted its best week since Nov. 2020, rising by more than 6.5% since last Friday. The S&P 500 also erased its losses for the month of May to date.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 576 points, or 1.8%, on Friday to end at 33,212.96, and the Nasdaq Composite added more than 3% to close at 12,131.13.
Investors digested a fresh set of economic data earlier on Friday, including the latest print on core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) — the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation. These showed inflationary pressures eased only modestly in April compared to March, echoing results from the still-elevated Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index released from earlier this month. Headline PCE increased 6.3% in April over last year compared to March’s 6.6% increase, and core PCE rose by 4.9% compared to 5.2% in the prior month. But separate data also showed personal spending, adjusted for inflation, accelerated in April compared to March.
Over the past several sessions, investors have weighed favorably the most recent batch of quarterly results and guidance from retailers like Macy’s (M), Nordstrom (JWN), Dollar General (DG) and Dollar Tree (DLTR). These companies largely exceeded Wall Street’s estimates, helping assuage concerns that the profit pressures reported recently by Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Kohl’s (KSS) were reverberating equally across all consumer-facing firms. And outside of retail, airlines including JetBlue (JBLU) and Southwest (LUV) raised their sales guidance for the current quarter, suggesting demand remained strong for discretionary travel.
“Overall the U.S. consumer still remains in great shape. They came into these price hikes, this inflation, with cushion on their balance sheet. Certainly employment is high, so the overall U.S. consumer remains in a very strong place,” Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, told Yahoo Finance Live.
“The big fear was that inflation was going to continue to run away and cause the Fed to have to tighten the U.S. economy into a recession,” he added. “I think we’re all starting to gradually wake up to the reality that goods spending … was pulled forward. Inventories have been rebuilt, and goods spending has caused the inflation that you’re seeing. That’s going to roll over as people move over to service sector spending.”
“And so it may feel like a recession in some parts of the economy, but other parts of the economy are going to do well,” Schutte said. “Inflation is going to fall, and the Fed is going to go a bit easier.”
However, other strategists cast doubt on the staying power of gains seen in the market so far this week, especially as inflation has shown few meaningful signs of coming down in a substantial way to date.
“This is nothing more than a bear bounce in our opinion. When you look at these bounces we’ve had, they’ve been on very light volume, there’s not a lot of conviction,” Eddie Ghabour, co-founder and managing partner of Key Advisors Group, told Yahoo Finance Live. “The data that we’re getting now that’s been causing this sell-off, remember, is first-quarter data. The data coming in the second quarter is going to be worse than the first quarter. And we’re not going to get that news until July … So I think we’re going to have a very treacherous market in the next few months.”
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4:03 p.m. ET: Stocks post best week since Nov. 2020 as S&P 500 erases May losses
Here’s where markets closed out the session on Friday:
Gold (GC=F): +$4.50 (+0.24%) to $1,858.40 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -2.7 bps to yield 2.7290%
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10:06 a.m. ET: Consumer sentiment weakened in late May to lowest since 2011
Consumer sentiment fell further in late May, largely on account of concerns around inflation and business conditions in the near-term.
The University of Michigan’s final monthly sentiment index decreased to 58.4, which was downwardly revised from the 59.1 previously reported for the month. Subindices tracking consumers’ views on current conditions and future expectations were each also slightly downwardly revised, and one-year inflation expectations were little changed at 5.3%.
The latest sentiment drop “was largely driven by continued negative views on current buying conditions for houses and durables, as well as consumers’ future outlook for the economy, primarily due to concerns over inflation,” Joanne Hsu, Surveys of Consumers director, wrote in a statement. “At the same time, consumers expressed less pessimism over future prospects for their personal finances than over future business conditions.”
“Looking into the long term, a majority of consumers expected their financial situation to improve over the next five years; this share is essentially unchanged during 2022,” Hsu added. “A stable outlook for personal finances may currently support consumer spending. Still, persistently negative views of the economy may come to dominate personal factors in influencing consumer behavior in the future.”
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9:32 a.m. ET: Stocks open higher
Here were the main moves in markets as of 9:32 a.m. ET:
The advance goods trade balance showed a deficit of $105.9 for the U.S. in April, the Commerce Department said Friday. This followed a gap of $125.9 billion in March, which was upwardly revised from $125.3 billion last month.
8:42 a.m. ET: Real personal spending accelerates in April, while saving rate slides to lowest since 2008
U.S. consumers kept spending last month even as inflation remained elevated, as one of the key contributors to U.S. economic activity held up into the spring. However, the personal saving rate dwindled to the lowest level in over a decade, raising some concerns over how much longer spending might manage to prop up the economy.
Real personal spending rose 0.7% month-on-month in April, the Bureau of Economic said Friday, accelerated from March’s 0.2% rise. Unadjusted for inflation, personal spending was up 0.9%, exceeding consensus economist expectations for a 0.8% increase, according to Bloomberg data. This metric had risen by 1.1% in March.
Personal income, however, decelerated slightly last month, rising 0.4% after March’s 0.5% increase. And the personal saving rate, or proportion of disposable personal income set aside to savings, fell to 4.4% from March’s 5.0%, reaching the lowest level since 2008. After soaring during the pandemic, the saving rate has now come in well below the average of 2019 before the outbreak, when the saving rate had averaged over 7%.
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8:38 a.m. ET: Inflation eases just slightly in April as PCE rises 6.3% year-over-year
Inflation as measured by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index eased only modestly in April compared to March, with fast-rising prices showing few signs of slowing down across the U.S. economy.
The broadest measure of PCE rose 0.2% in April month-on-month, which matched consensus economist expectations, according to Bloomberg data. This compared to a 0.9% monthly increase in March. On a year-over-year basis, however, PCE still soared by 6.3%, coming in slightly hotter than expected and moderating only slightly from March’s 6.6% annual rise.
Core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also remained hot and rose 4.9% in April over last year. That matched estimates, and followed a 5.2% rise in March. February’s reading of 5.3% had been the highest since 1983.
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7:23 a.m. ET: Stock futures rise as indexes look to log weekly gains
Here’s where markets were trading Friday morning:
S&P 500 futures (ES=F): +11 points (+0.27%) to 4,066.75
Dow futures (YM=F): +26 points (+0.08%) to 32,626.00
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): +54.25 points (+0.44%) to 12,333.50
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 23: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on May 23, 2022 in New York City. After a week of steep losses, markets were up in Monday morning trading. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
It’s common knowledge that companies don’t hire the most qualified candidates. Employers hire the person they believe will deliver the best value in exchange for their payroll cost.
Since most job seekers know the above, I’m surprised that so few mention their Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Most job seekers list their education, skills, and experience without substantiating them and expect employers to determine whether they can benefit their company; hence, most resumes and LinkedIn profiles are just a list of opinions—borderline platitudes—that are meaningless and, therefore, have no value. Job seekers need to better explain, along with providing evidence, how they’ll contribute to an employer’s success.
Employers don’t hire opinions (read: talk is cheap); they hire results.
You’re not offering anything tangible when you claim:
I’m a great communicator.
I’m detail oriented.
I’m a team player.
Tangible:
“At Global Dynamics, I held quarterly town hall meetings with my 22 sales reps, highlighting our accomplishments, identifying opportunity areas, and recognizing outstanding performers.”
“For eight years, I managed Vandelay Industries IT department, overseeing a staff of 18 and a 12-million-dollar budget while coordinating cross-specialty projects. My strong attention to detail is why I never exceeded budget.”
“While working at Cyberdyne Systems, I was part of the customer service team, consisting of nine of us, striving to improve our response time. Through collaboration and sharing of best practices, we reduced our average response time from 48 to 12 business hours, resulting in a 35% improvement in customer feedback ratings.”
These examples of tangible answers provide employers with what they most want to hear from candidates but rarely do; what value the candidate will bring to the company. Typically, job seekers present their skills, experience, and unsubstantiated opinions and expect recruiters and employers to figure out their value, which is a lazy practice.
Getting hired isn’t based on “I have an MBA in Marketing and Sales,” “I’ve been a web designer for over 15 years,” “I’m young, beautiful and energetic,” blah, blah, blah. Likewise, being rejected isn’t based on “I’m overqualified,” “I’m too old,” “I don’t have enough education,” blah, blah, blah. Getting hired depends entirely on showing employers that you can add value and substance to their company; that you’ll serve a purpose.
When you articulate a solid value offer, the “blah, blah, blah” doesn’t matter. Job seekers focus too much on the “blah, blah, blah,” and when not hired, they say, “It’s not me, it’s…” The biggest mistake I see job seekers make is focusing on the “blah, blah, blah”—their experience and education—believing this is what interests employers. Hiring managers are more interested in whether you can solve the problems the position exists to solve than in your education and experience.
Not impressive: Education
Impressive: A track record of achieving tangible results.
You aren’t who you say you are; you are what you do.
If you want to be somebody who works hard, you have to actually work hard. If you want to be somebody who goes to the gym, you actually have to go to the gym. If you want to be a good friend, spouse, or colleague, you have to actually be a good friend, spouse, or colleague. Actions build reputations, not words.
The biggest challenge job seekers face today is differentiating themselves. To stand out and be memorable, don’t be like most job seekers, someone who’s all talk and no action. Any recruiter or hiring manager will tell you that the job market is heavily populated with job seekers who talk themselves up, talk a “good game” about everything they can “supposedly” do, drop names, etc., but have nothing to show for it.
More than ever, employers want to hear candidates offer a value proposition summarizing what value they bring. If you’re looking for a low-hanging fruit method to differentiate yourself, do what job seekers hardly ever do and make a hard-to-ignore value proposition.
Increase sales: “Based on my experience managing Regina and Saskatoon for PharmaKorp, I’m confident that I can increase BioGen’s sales by no less than 25% in Winnipeg and the surrounding area by the end of 2025.”
Reduce cost: “During my 12 years as Taco Town’s head of purchasing, I renegotiated contracts with key suppliers, resulting in 15% cost savings, saving the company over $450,000 annually. I know I can do the same for The Pasta House.”
Increase customer satisfaction:“During my time at Globex Corporation, I established a systematic feedback mechanism that enabled customers to share their experiences. This led to targeted improvements, increasing our Net Promoter Score by 15 points. I can increase Dunder Mifflin’s net promoter score.”
Save time: “As Zap Delivery’s dispatcher, I implemented advanced routing software that analyzed traffic patterns, reducing average delivery times by 20%. My implementation of this software at Froggy’s Delivery can reduce your delivery times by at least 20%, if not more.”
If you want to achieve job search success as soon as possible, structure your job search with a single thread that’s evident and consistent throughout your résumé, LinkedIn profile, cover letters and especially during interviews; clearly convey what difference you’ll make to the employer.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service’s crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.
The 5.1 million subscribers that Netflix added during the July-September period represented a 42% decline from the total gained during the same time last year. Even so, the company’s revenue and profit rose at a faster pace than analysts had projected, according to FactSet Research.
Netflix ended September with 282.7 million worldwide subscribers — far more than any other streaming service.
The Los Gatos, California, company earned $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, a 41% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 15% from a year ago to $9.82 billion. Netflix management predicted the company’s revenue will rise at the same 15% year-over-year pace during the October-December period, slightly than better than analysts have been expecting.
The strong financial performance in the past quarter coupled with the upbeat forecast eclipsed any worries about slowing subscriber growth. Netflix’s stock price surged nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out, building upon a more than 40% increase in the company’s shares so far this year.
The past quarter’s subscriber gains were the lowest posted in any three-month period since the beginning of last year. That drop-off indicates Netflix is shifting to a new phase after reaping the benefits from a ban on the once-rampant practice of sharing account passwords that enabled an estimated 100 million people watch its popular service without paying for it.
The crackdown, triggered by a rare loss of subscribers coming out of the pandemic in 2022, helped Netflix add 57 million subscribers from June 2022 through this June — an average of more than 7 million per quarter, while many of its industry rivals have been struggling as households curbed their discretionary spending.
Netflix’s gains also were propelled by a low-priced version of its service that included commercials for the first time in its history. The company still is only getting a small fraction of its revenue from the 2-year-old advertising push, but Netflix is intensifying its focus on that segment of its business to help boost its profits.
In a letter to shareholder, Netflix reiterated previous cautionary notes about its expansion into advertising, though the low-priced option including commercials has become its fastest growing segment.
“We have much more work to do improving our offering for advertisers, which will be a priority over the next few years,” Netflix management wrote in the letter.
As part of its evolution, Netflix has been increasingly supplementing its lineup of scripted TV series and movies with live programming, such as a Labor Day spectacle featuring renowned glutton Joey Chestnut setting a world record for gorging on hot dogs in a showdown with his longtime nemesis Takeru Kobayashi.
Netflix will be trying to attract more viewer during the current quarter with a Nov. 15 fight pitting former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson against Jake Paul, a YouTube sensation turned boxer, and two National Football League games on Christmas Day.
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